Tim Curry Spills on Being “Very Disappointed” by ‘It’—Stephen King’s Iconic Adaptation!

Few actors can claim to have portrayed a character so terrifying that it permanently etched itself in the cinematic memory and retinas of viewers, even sparking a real panic fear known as coulrophobia, in addition to being a constant source of absolute nightmares. Tim Curry, who has sadly passed away, was one of those actors, with his brilliant and petrifying portrayal of Pennywise, the Dancing Clown in the TV movie “It,” adapted from Stephen King’s work.

“He’s truly malevolent, yet he’s funny at the same time”

Unlike Bill Skarsgard’s 2017 portrayal, which was excellent for different reasons, Curry’s version of Pennywise as a clown didn’t involve any physical alterations: no unnaturally large forehead or wandering eyes. Except when he displayed terrifying rows of dagger-like teeth, revealing the monstrous creature he truly was. “I am your worst nightmare come to life. I am everything you’ve ever been afraid of,” Curry declared in the film. You could take his word for it.

In 2008, we had the great pleasure of speaking with him, discussing his memorable role. “Stephen King is a true genius in my eyes: he manages to instill or reawaken the primal fears within us. These things that are in your subconscious without you really knowing it. And I think children are terrified by clowns, precisely. It is truly malevolent, and at the same time, it remains funny,” he shared with us.

“Like Steven Spielberg, Stephen King often takes small suburban towns or isolated communities and sows terror… Their heroes are always ordinary people who improve themselves by facing the challenges before them. In this specific case, a clown from outer space… It’s a real challenge to play such a character, but as with Legend, thanks to the mask, I was totally free. There was a very Comedia del Arte approach to this role.”

“I was very disappointed by the end…”

Although this portrayal remained dear to his heart, Tim Curry did express a significant regret: the ending of the TV movie, as he explained to the Guardian in an interview in 2017: “I was very disappointed by the end when I turned into a not very convincing spider,” he said. In King’s novel, Pennywise is just one of the many forms that “It” takes. The TV movie does show his character changing form occasionally, but focuses much more on the clown character before the end.

Ironically, Tim Curry revealed in his memoirs published in 2025 that he hated clowns before accepting this iconic role: “The idea of playing this killer clown was uncomfortable for me, but it also felt like I had to push myself to take on this challenge. With much hesitation, which confirmed that I was still trying to accept my contradictions, I answered: ‘Yes, I’m interested'”. It was well worth it. Farewell, artist…